Ladybug
by Lady Cardea
Summary: I could tell from the beginning that it was never going to be me. We had a bond, or understanding more like, that year that he went away. At the time I was seventeen, she was sixteen, and we were mortal enemies. DMxGW.


**Here we are with another one-shot! I wanted to write this when I saw the lyrics. Because of exams this week, I couldn't write to Playing With Fire, but Christmas break starts Thursday at 10:10, so I will get on the next chapter as soon as I can!**

**Anyway, this is set during Book 7 and is fairly compliant. Very compliant. But I **_**do not own Harry Potter or any elements contained with it.**_** This is merely set out for your and my enjoyment.**

**So, have fun and leave a review (please?)!**

**-.-.-**

**Ladybug**

I could tell from the beginning that it was never going to be me. I hated her too much, just as she hated me, but it was a different kind of hate we shared. We had a bond, or understanding more like, that year that he went away. At the time I was seventeen, she was sixteen, and we were mortal enemies. It wasn't even a voluntary hate really, until the moment I opened my mouth against her precious Potter and she opened her mouth against me to defend _him. _I always wondered what it would be like if I had been his friend. Perhaps none of this would have happened. She would never have been with him.

Anyway, the summer after my downfall at Hogwarts and the death of Albus Dumbledore, the-boy-who-just-wouldn't-die went away, taking with him Weasley and Granger, his ever-faithful sidekicks. I was happy they were gone and I no longer had to waste my energy on Potter. But she wasn't. The girl who loved him was sad and alone.

Why she came to me I will never know. I don't think she even saw what was coming that year.

I'd noticed her walking alone, so alone, to every class. All of her friends surrounded her but I could see it in her eyes that she was somewhere else in that mind, and I think she saw the same in me. I saw her watching me during meals, while carrying on with idle conversations. I watched her in return, utterly perplexed.

Some night during October she found me perched in the Astronomy Tower, my sanctuary of loneliness. It was raining, and dementors were swarming the grounds. Curfew had passed hours before, which meant the Carrows' were safely in their private rooms, dreaming of power and glory. They were sick, the mess of them, to which I belonged.

When she first approached I didn't know what to feel. It was surprising to me that I was not more shocked to see her. She had been watching me for so long though, I'd felt like we had talked before. When she spoke, her voice was gentle and smooth.

"It's past curfew," she said, watching me with those big brown eyes. Her head was tilted to the side, that contemptuous sea of fire falling down her back, waiting to burn me.

"And you are out of bed," I replied, matching her indifference in the way I spoke.

"Bad luck if the Carrows' find you," she said.

I nodded. "Worse for you."

She seemed to take this as an invitation to join me where I sat on the windowsill. For a few moments we were both quiet. I noticed that she was wearing an over sized t-shirt with her Gryffindor plaid pajama flannels.

"Why are you up here?" she asked me as we both looked out the window, into the night.

I shrugged at her. "I wanted to be alone," I said, as a dementor swept past. A wave of cold air flushed through the room. "You?"

"I didn't," she replied as we simultaneously looked at one another.

-.-.-

_What did you say to me_

_  
I'm not a novelty_

_  
You're playing revelry_

_  
But no one's listening_

_  
I am a simple man_

_  
Without a simple plan_

_  
Let's make this easy_

_  
And just get out while we can_

_But I'm the one you want_

-.-.-

At that point, I thought that it was over. The clean kind of thing that ended before it even really began.

Ginevra had other plans in mind. It wasn't the very next night, but exactly a week later she was back in the Astronomy Tower, before even I had arrived. When I stepped inside she didn't hear me. She was laying face up, watching the stars. I stepped over her and looked down.

"Anything interesting, Weasley?" I asked in a usual drawl, a bit put out that she was invading my private place. Something made me not mind as much as I would have a year ago, though.

She shrugged, her eyes looking dreamy. "Nothing worth mentioning. I wanted to talk," she said. "So I was waiting for the right person to come along."

"Well then, by all means let me know when they arrive," I responded, but did not leave. I sat at the end of the windowsill, right at her feet.

"Don't you ever get tired of living the same life every day?" Ginevra asked unexpectedly, still gazing up at the stars. Sirius was shining bright against the black of the night.

I was confused, watching her carefully. "What do you mean?" I asked her, somehow wondering why this conversation had survived more than five minutes.

She sat up and looked me in the eye, making me squirm in the slightest. I knew boys all over the school were talking about the Ginny Weasley everyone wanted to date. I never knew why. Then I knew, it must have been her eyes.

"I just mean, don't you get tired of doing what everyone expects?" she asked, her face showing signs of exasperation. I shrugged at her in return.

"What else is there to do? Failing duty leads to bad things," I told her, remembering everything that had happened the past spring. I could tell she knew what I meant. "Duty's a part of life."

Her fingers brushed against my arm. "Is that way you did what you did last year?" she asked. Those eyes were _probing_ and _imploring_ and making me feel _so damn weak._ "Duty?"

I wasn't sure what to tell her. "I suppose it was," I said. "Part of me wanted someone to be proud of me. It's not easy to get that here because of Potter." She shivered at the mention of his name.

"And now we roll along to my duty," she said, those beautiful eyes hanging with sadness. "Sitting and doing absolutely no good for anything while I wait for the one I love to come back to me."

"Don't you enjoy waiting for him?" I asked in a bitter voice. It was all a bit too sickening. "Don't you bask in the affection he gives you, or something?'

She watched me with one dark brow hitched higher than the other. "I love him," she said. "But I don't like waiting. I don't like restlessly sitting around and standing all of this going on in the castle, unable to do a damn thing."

"What are you saying, Weasley?" I asked boredly. "And why are you saying it to me?"

She shrugged, piercing me with those eyes, getting browner and more intoxicating by the second. I hated her, but I was enthralled. "I'm just saying," she replied slowly. "That I don't want to be alone. I don't want to wait anymore."

-.-.-

_Hey, Ladybug_

_  
You were always on the mind of everyone, Ladybug_

_  
You're pathetic and I've said it more than once, Ladybug_

_  
I believe you couldn't reach me where I am_

_  
Where my feet won't hit the ground_

-.-.-

She taught me so many things; _told _me so many things. Things I didn't want to know, didn't need to hear. Things that if anyone knew I knew, we would both be into trouble. She told me things that would have gotten her family arrested by the Ministry, now controlled by Voldemort. I couldn't understand why she trusted me not to tell her secrets.

But I never did. And every day that I kept my mouth shut I became more disgusted with myself for letting things carry on as far as they had.

I just couldn't help it. For so long I had felt dead and dormant inside; broken from the duration of the war. She made me feel alive somehow.

But mostly it was that she made me feel _something._ At that point, I thought I was ready for absolutely anything. Looking back now, I know I was never ready for Ginevra Weasley to come into my life and take control.

-.-.-

_The time is passing by_

_  
You're my insecticide_

_  
The pressure's on the rise_

_  
And I'm right on time_

_-.-.-_

It was in January when we were together physically. Up until then, it had been merely a get together each night in the Astronomy Tower. But when she came home from the Burrow after Christmas break, things were different. _She_ was different.

Perhaps it was because Potter had disappointed her and not returned home for the holidays. That night, though, the night before classes started once again, she came to me a changed Weasley.

More determined, is what she was. More eager and those eyes bewitched me. I beat her to the Astronomy Tower and was taken aback when she rushed in and threw her hands up to grab my shoulders and pull my face to hers.

Her lips took over mine and I was surprised at how welcoming I felt to them. Warm and soft, they were gentle, but at the same time, there was a fierceness I'd never met before.

With only moments of hesitation, I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her lower half to me, basking in the way her hips fit into mine. I had thought it was perfect.

For only a few minutes she was content with raking her fingers through my hair and exploring the hidden places of my mouth. But then she wanted more. When she paused the activity, it was only long enough for her to whisper, "I want you," in my ear.

It was all over for me then.

I made quick work of her knickers and gracefully laid her on the large windowsill we'd sat upon so many times before.

I had to cover her mouth to keep us from being found out.

_-.-.-_

_  
Beautiful enemy_

_  
I'll fix your broken wings_

_  
And let you lie here until_

_  
You fly away from me_

I'm the one you want

-.-.-

Our nights went on much like that, after the first one. She wasn't much of a talker during our evening activities, but when we were still, she poured her heart out. Something about her made her different from all the others.

Over those short weeks in January, I stopped seeing any girl besides her. In February, I began to feel things for her that I couldn't explain. I hated it, but at the same time it was the most exhilarating experience of my life. She awakened me, and I was frightened.

And then, in the beginning of March, it hit me.

I, Draco Lucius Malfoy, was in love with the one and only Ginevra Weasley.

-.-.-

_Hey Ladybug_

_  
You were always on the mind of everyone, Ladybug_

_  
You're pathetic and I've said it more than once, Ladybug_

_  
I believe you couldn't reach me where I am_

_  
Where my feet won't hit the ground_

_-.-.-_

When Easter break came around, I was sad to see her go. We said our goodbyes the night before the train left. The noise attracted Filch and we were nearly caught.

I kissed her, trying to convey my feelings without actually having to say what it was. "I'll miss you," I told her, trying not to blush as I mumbled. "But I'll see you in a few days?"

"Yeah," she replied with a nod, smiling warmly at me. "I'll miss you too."

We parted discreetly with another farewell kiss, and that was the last I saw of her for months. When the Monday after Easter came around, I raked the Great Hall with my eyes, looking for the fiery pool of hair I'd come to adore. It was not present.

With a frown, I thought perhaps she was unpacking or late for dinner. That night, however, there was no lyrical laughter or melting eyes.

Ginevra Weasley had disappeared, and I was beside myself with an unfamiliar loneliness, now that I knew what it was like to love and ache for someone when they are gone.

_-.-.-_

What did you say to me

_  
I'm only here to clip your wings_

_  
You cut me down to size_

_  
I'm only living my life  
_

_-.-.-_

Harry Potter returned, nearing the end of semester. With him he brought death and soon following, Ginevra. His Ginevra_. My_ Ginevra. I heard her voice while slinking down a hallway. She was fighting with Harry and he told her to go somewhere, for a short period of time, and then return. As she ran by me, I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a classroom, covering her mouth to cover the noise as I had many times before.

Once she realized it was me, she relaxed and I released her. But soon after I embraced her properly. She returned the gesture, but something was different. I chose to ignore it.

"Gin," I said softly, into her hair. My heart was pounding. "What happened to you? Are you okay?"

She pulled away and looked at me, smiling. "I'm fine," she replied. "My parents kept me at home after Easter break because of how things were going here. How are you?"

"Better, now that I know you're okay," I said. I couldn't resist any longer. I held her face in my hands and pulled it up to mine, kissing her gently.

She kissed me, but it just wasn't the same. I pulled away, looking at her with a confused face and crumpled eyebrows. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"Harry's back," she said softly, not looking me in the eye.

"So?" I said without thinking, without processing. All I could think about was how much I missed her eyes now that they were not on me. In a moment, the meaning hit me. "Oh. Oh, I see." I was trying my hardest to remain calm.

She looked at me, her eyes watering for the second time I had witnessed this year. The first was when Alecto Carrow had first performed the Cruciatus Curse on her.

"I'm sorry Draco," she said softly, her eyes looking genuine. I was doing my best to harden against her; not to let her see inside. "I didn't realize I still had these feelings for him, until I saw him tonight…"

I shook my head at her. "Don't," I said, feeling it was all I could manage.

"Draco, please," Ginny said, her voice wobbling only a little. I wanted her to hurt, in a sick way. I wanted her to feel what I was feeling right now. I guess I had myself convinced it might make her stay. Her hand reached gently to rest on my wrist. "I really do care about you, I just…"

"I said _don't_, Weasley," I spat at her, trying to sound vicious. She recoiled from my arm, looking frightened. "I hate you."

Wrong choice. She began to get angry with me, at the words. "What did you expect, _Malfoy?_" she asked, snarling my name like acid on her tongue. "You knew from the beginning. When I came to you I told you exactly what was!"

I turned to her, my eyes blaring, staring her in the face. "You never told me it would be more than a stupid shag!" I yelled, causing her to snap her attention up. Maybe she was scared, but she was good at hiding it. "You never told me you were going to make me love you!"

There. I'd said it, and it was completely wrong. It was not how I'd envisioned it. In all honesty, I'd thought she would say it first. Girls always did. But of course, the one time my mouth got away from me, it was with her.

Her beautiful jaw dropped, separately the lips of her wicked mouth, used for sharp words and pleasurable actions. The mouth, which was all I wanted to taste, yet the only thing I couldn't have.

"Draco," she said softly, pleading me to make the situation easy for her. Well, I wouldn't do it. "I didn't know… I'm..."

"Don't," I hissed. "Don't you dare say you're sorry, Ginevra Weasley. I don't want your pity."

A tear slipped down her face and I wanted to reach out and wipe it away. But I didn't. She took a sharp breath and attempted once more. "Draco-"

I looked at her with hatred, but it was false. Every last bit of it was a lie; a huge pretend that I wished I could abandon. "Leave," I told her, wanting her to do anything but. "Don't ever speak to me again."

"Please, Draco, let me explain," she begged, sniffing, while streaks of salty water dripped slowly down her perfect cheeks.

"Leave," I growled again, mustering as much anger as I could, but mostly I just felt hurt and broken. I had said for her to leave, but I hadn't meant leave me. I had hoped she would leave Potter and tell me she had changed her mind: that it was me she wanted.

She left without a word and returned to Potter. As the nights events progressed, he saved my life more than once. I wasn't paying attention, but inside I knew he was the right one for her. He could protect her and give her all the she wanted. He was undeniably the champion, and he deserved the best. After all, the hero always triumphed in the face of evil.

But I would never forget. None of it. Each day he crossed my mind. Harry Potter, the boy who lived and saved the world, and _my_ Ginevra Weasley, the girl who loved him.

_-.-.-_

_  
You were always on the mind of everyone, Ladybug_

_  
You're pathetic and I've said it more than once, Ladybug_

_  
I believe you couldn't reach me where I am_

-.-.-

**What do you think? Amanda said it's better than my other one-shots. I KNOW it's better than Climbing the Walls, which I know really really hate. But whatever.**

**It's rather sad, don't you think? I've been feeling tragedy lately, so you might expect another similar from me soon. I might write a new pairing though. Bellatrix and Lucius are really playing at my interests, so when I get out for Christmas we shall see.**

**New Playing With Fire coming hopefully by Saturday, for sure by Christmas! **

**Hope you enjoyed. Please review!**

**Lady Cardea**


End file.
